Guests/ Visitors/ Fans/ Customers/ Consumers…WHO ARE THEY?

A short blog attempting to meander through the complications of understanding what is the word…customer? In 2023, the demand of customer experience is higher than ever. Appreciation of customer experience, delivering exceptional touchpoint management, understanding emotional engagement and more is all crucial to meeting KPIs for companies. But one thing that is crucial is to understand what is the customer called these days?

In hotels they are guests…

In museums they are visitors…

In sport grounds they are fans…

In shops they are customers…

In a provision of a service like health care they are a patient…

In reality they are - consumers. Those who consume different experiences for different purposes. A word that has so many complex definitions but has to be broken down to be fully understood. However, the main purpose of this blog is to think - when was the last time you mapped out the meaning of a consumer/ customer to your organisation? What do they mean? So, get a bit of paper and put on your favourite song on your earphones and write, for the duration of the song, the meaning to customers to the organisation you represent work for and with.

Think about the emotional connection they bring, think about what they do for the organisation and understand the benefit of engagement? To define this and appreciate each stage of the engagement a ‘consumer’ has means the mapping is easier to appreciate.

Understand every angle and aspect of what truly all of the words above mean and think - what do they mean to you…what makes them spark and alight! And how can you manufacture this. If they are a fan - how do you keep them hooked, what do you do to make sure that the fan experience is more than just taken £30 to watch a match/ game/ fixture - what does it mean and what does it allow the fan to walk away with!